On the Other Side
by esmtz
Summary: Based off of 5x22 Stefan feels that it would be better for Damon if he remained dead. Does Damon feel the same way?


On the Other Side

By: esmtz

Stefan sat quietly on a bench with his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped together and his chin was lying on top of them. He had been deep in thought for awhile now still curious as to how Bonnie and the others were planning to bring him and the rest of their friends back from the other side. Truthfully he was debating whether he even wanted to go back or not as he realized that if he stayed where he was at his brother would no longer have to deal with him anymore and the hatred that Damon felt would most likely be gone since Stefan would no longer be around.

'I mean that's all he's ever really felt towards me. Ever since we turned he's always hated me. He even said it himself that he would make my life an eternity of misery.' Stefan thought to himself as he just stared blankly at the ground.

Since turning all Stefan could think about was how guilty he felt for making Damon turn especially after what happened between them and Katherine. It had been his fault that Damon hated him and he didn't blame him for that but still all Stefan really wanted was his big brother to love him or at least showed that he cared about him, but ever since they came back to Mystic Falls it just never really happened. If Damon had shown any signs of worry or concern it was only because Elena told him to make sure that he was ok. Stefan shook his head; to think that his brother only showed his concern when Elena asked him to. He knew full well that Damon didn't come back to town for him. At first it had been for Katherine but after awhile when Damon still hadn't left, after finding out Katherine wasn't in the tomb, Stefan had secretly hoped that he decided to stay because of him but soon after he discovered the real reason why he stayed; Damon was in love with Stefan's girlfriend at the time. Once Damon and Elena got together Stefan was torn between conflicting emotions. A part of him hated his brother for taking his girl but the other part of him was happy to see that Damon was finally happy. Despite knowing that Damon was the type of person that he is Stefan couldn't seem to bring himself to completely hate him. Even during the past year when Silas had trapped him in the safe and thrown him into the quarry Stefan had been extremely hurt that neither Damon or Elena (especially Damon) had been the ones who had saved him. It only pissed him off even more when he later found out that not only had Silas impersonated him and no one could tell the difference, but the fact that Damon was even working with Silas at all was just too much. What hurt even more was that Katherine was the one who helped him through his issues with being trapped underwater and dying over and over again not Damon. Stefan by this point was pretty convinced that Damon simply didn't care. If it wasn't about Elena it wasn't his problem.

'I should've known better. The only reason why we were at least getting along was because of Elena. I don't even know why I bothered to try to hide the fact that I killed Enzo because let's face it he was never going to be my brother again after what I did.' Stefan thought to himself sadly.

Even though his relationship with his brother was terrible Stefan couldn't completely bring himself to regret the decision that he made to make his brother turn.

'At least he's alive that's all I care about. He can hate me for the rest of his life but as long as I know that he's alive and hopefully happy that's all I really want.' Stefan thought to himself.

Stefan was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a noise coming from behind him. He quickly turned to see Lexi standing behind him looking slightly worried.

"What's wrong, Lexi?" Stefan asked frowning slightly.

"I know that you said that you needed some time to think but you should know that your brother and Elena are here." Lexi told him having already known what he was thinking about.

Stefan's eyes widened in horror as he quickly stood up and turned to face her.

"What do you mean here, Lexi? How can they possibly be here?!" Stefan replied as he started to panic, "This place is falling apart! They can't be here!"

"Well they are. I'm not sure how they got here but whatever the fact is that we need to get out of here, Stefan. Now." Lexi told him as she made a grab for his arm.

Stefan quickly pulled back and looked at her sadly.

"Stefan!"

"Lexi, listen to me. You go find Damon and Elena and then you guys go find Bonnie and get out of here." Stefan told her.

"You can't be serious, Stefan. You're my best friend you can't expect me to-"

"I'm not going back, Lexi. I made up my mind so please just do me this one last favor and go find my brother and Elena and get them out." Stefan said seriously as he looked her in the eyes, "Please."

Lexi bit her lip as she looked at him.

"Honestly, Stefan I wasn't exactly expecting you to say you're not going back otherwise I wouldn't have agreed to let you wander off alone with your thoughts. I thought for sure you'd want to go back at least for Caroline's sake." Lexi said.

"Caroline will be fine. She has Elena, Matt and if you go back hopefully you too." Stefan said smiling at her.

"Well of course! Anyone who is a friend of yours is a friend of mine." Lexi told him, "However it still doesn't change the fact that I don't want you to stay. Why are you so insistent on staying?"

"I have my reasons." Stefan told her.

He didn't want to tell her it was because of Damon because knowing her the first thing she'll do is tell Damon what Stefan was planning and why.

"Please, Lexi just go find Damon and Elena and when you find them, if they ask, just tell them that I crossed over already."

"You want me to lie to them?"

"Yes. Just say whatever you have to say to get them to cross over. If either one of them ends up stuck here because of me I will never forgive myself so just go, Lexi." Stefan said.

Lexi knew that they were running out of time so instead of trying to convince Stefan to go with her she just nodded and took off running knowing that it will probably take awhile before she can find Damon and Elena. Stefan watched as she left hoping that there was still enough time for her to find his brother and Elena and get them out of there. He went to sit back down on the bench as he waited for the eventual collapse of the other side. Stefan wasn't sure how long he sat there as his mind was somewhere else thinking about how different his relationship with his brother had been before Katherine appeared in their lives and how much he missed that version of his older brother before he was once again pulled out of his own thoughts by sudden noises coming from nearby.

"Stefan?"

Stefan winced slightly before turning his head to the right only to find himself face to face with Damon who was with Enzo. He hadn't expected for Damon to find him so he wasn't prepared for what he was going to say to him if he did.

"What are you doing here, Damon?" Stefan asked.

"What do you think, brother? Just making sure that you and everyone else who is here crosses over before this whole place collapses. Is there a reason why you're just sitting here instead of looking for Bonnie?" Damon asked frowning slightly.

Stefan swallowed as he tried to come up with an excuse for why he wasn't making an attempt to find Bonnie.

"I'm just waiting for a friend of mine to show up. You really should get out of here." Stefan said as he felt the wind around them start to get stronger.

"He's right, mate. This place is getting way too unstable to stay here any longer. We really should go and find your friend don't you think, Damon?" Enzo said looking around as if something was just about to happen.

Damon just looked at Stefan who for some reason to him didn't seem like he was all too worried about what was happening.

"Well I hate to break it to you, Stef but whoever it is that you're waiting for it's too late to just sit here and wait for them. We need to move and now." Damon said as he grabbed Stefan's arm and pulled him up.

Stefan waited to see if Damon was going to take the lead or not but it was clearly obvious from the way Damon was looking at him that he had no intention of moving until his brother did. Stefan shook his head thinking that he could probably just get Damon to cross over first so that way there wouldn't be any issues with Damon finding out that Stefan intended to stay. They made their way past all the trees that were surrounding them until they came upon an empty area where everyone was already gathered including Bonnie. Lexi looked up when she saw them come into view and was relieved when she saw Stefan.

"Ok now that they've finally showed up is everyone here that wants to go back?" Bonnie asked looking around at the small group of people in front of her.

"It looks like we're all present and accounted for." Elena said looking at her before looking at Damon and Stefan clearly relieved to find that they made it in time as she had a small smile on her face.

"Ok then whose first?" Bonnie asked.

"Elena." Damon said motioning for her to go first.

Elena looked at him worried as the wind around them grew even stronger.

"Damon-"

"Just go, Elena we don't have time for this!" Damon told her.

Elena bit her lip as she knew that he was right but she was worried that despite the fact that all of them were there she couldn't help but feel a sense of dread hanging over her like something was going to go wrong. However she also knew that the longer she took deciding whether to go or not it could potentially lead to the other side collapsing before everyone got out of there safely. She just nodded as she walked towards Bonnie and Bonnie placed her hands on her arms and she was gone.

"I don't think we have a whole lot of time left guys!" Lexi yelled out as the wind was starting to get loud enough that they would have to yell if they wanted to hear each other.

"Everyone's here so I'll be able to get everyone across before this side collapses!" Bonnie said as she put her hands on Alaric's arms and he too disappeared.

"Well I'll see you on the other side, mate." Enzo said putting a hand on Damon's shoulder before going up to Bonnie and he too vanished.

Stefan watched as Tyler went next and then he looked at Lexi who was looking at him like she was expecting him to move but when she realized that he wasn't going to she was about to say something but Damon beat her to it.

"Let's go little brother we're running out of time!" Damon said looking at him.

"You first, Damon. Elena's waiting for you on the other side." Stefan replied looking back at him.

Damon didn't move. He simply stood there and looked at his brother. He wasn't planning on going first because he needed to make sure that his brother got out of there safely.

"We don't have time for this, Stefan-"

"Exactly! Just go, Damon! I'll be right behind you." Stefan told him.

Damon shook his head as he walked towards Stefan and made a grab for his arm but Stefan quickly pulled away.

"Stefan!"

Stefan closed his eyes as he took a deep breath and then let it out before opening his eyes and looking at Damon with a very serious look on his face.

"I'm not going back, Damon." Stefan told him.

Damon looked at him in shock, hurt, but most of all angry.

"What do you mean you're not going back?" Damon asked angrily.

Stefan sighed as he looked at the ground next to Damon unable to look him in the eyes.

"I made up my mind. I'm not going back."

Damon couldn't believe what he was hearing as he stepped closer to Stefan and grabbed him roughly by his shirt and pulled him closer to him.

"Details brother. I want to know what's gotten you so convinced that you want to stay here where its just about to fall apart instead of coming back home with the rest of us!" Damon said as he tried to get Stefan to look at him.

Stefan winced having not expected that Damon would even care if he stayed or not. He really didn't want to have to tell his brother that it was because of him that Stefan felt that he needed to stay.

"Elena needs you, Damon so just go on and get out of here already." Stefan said still not looking at him.

Damon growled as he forced Stefan to look at him.

"I am not leaving my little brother here because who knows what-"

"You're better off without me, Damon."

There was an awkward silence between them as Stefan looked away again. Damon looked at him like he was crazy.

"What are you talking about, Stefan?" Damon asked.

Stefan just looked at the ground sadly.

"Please just go, Damon. Once this place collapses I have no idea what's going to happen so please just-"

Damon let go of Stefan's shirt only to put his hands on Stefan's arms as he gripped them tightly.

"No."

"You still have Elena, Damon! There's no need for you to be here!" Stefan said looking at him with wide eyes.

"I'll leave once you decide that you're coming home with me." Damon told him with a very serious look on his face.

"You don't need me, Damon. You have never needed me. All I've ever done was cause you pain remember? I killed your best friend, I didn't know that you were missing when you were being experimented on by the Augustine Society, I'm the one who took Katherine from you and then made you turn afterwards! I have never been a good brother to you and I'm sure there's more but I can't really think right now!" Stefan said, "The very least I can do is to get rid of all that pain that I caused you by-"

"Don't, Stefan I don't want to hear it! You dying is not going to fix anything! It's only going to make it worse on me don't you get it?! I know that I haven't exactly been the brother that I know you needed me to be and I'm sorry about that but come on staying here isn't going to make me feel any better!" Damon told him.

"You can stop lying, Damon because I already know how much you hate me and I truly don't blame you for that. I know that I destroyed what we had before and I really wish that I could fix it but I can't so instead the next best thing that I can give you is to stay out of your life forever while you live happily with Elena because let's face it she's all you ever really cared about and it would make me feel better knowing that you would be nothing but happy and alive with the girl you really care about. You're finally happy, Damon and I don't want to take that away from you." Stefan said looking at him.

"You're already taking that away from me, Stefan. Yes I love Elena and yes I hated you for awhile but guess what? Being back here in Mystic Falls and hanging around you and Elena as often as I have I eventually just forgot about the fact that I was supposed to hate you so guess what little brother? I don't hate you not anymore anyways so come on lets go home already." Damon said practically pleading with his brother to come with him as he started trying to pull him towards Bonnie.

"Damon, you'll be fine without me. I can't believe you can't see that. You being around Elena is what changed you not hanging around with me. If it hadn't of been for Elena you would still hate me and you know that I'm right." Stefan told him as he placed his hands on Damon's chest ready to push him away, "I'm sorry brother but this is what's best. Goodbye, Damon."

With all his strength Stefan pushed Damon away from him and was about to start running in the opposite direction but unfortunately for him Damon was fast enough that he grabbed Stefan around his waist and started forcefully pulling him towards Bonnie.

"I don't think so, Stefan. Lexi, could you help me out here?" Damon asked as Stefan was struggling hard against him.

Lexi nodded as she moved to be in front of Stefan and started pushing.

"Lexi!" Stefan yelled out.

"Sorry, Stefan but you're my best friend and I'm not going to just let you stay here." Lexi told him.

"Hurry you guys this place is about to go any second now!" Bonnie yelled out.

As soon as they got close enough Lexi pushed Stefan as hard as she could making both him and Damon stumble right into Bonnie who immediately had both her arms out ready to send them back to the other side. With one touch Stefan and Damon both found themselves back on the other side where Elena and the others were currently waiting for them.

"Damon! Oh thank god you guys made it! What took you guys so long?" Elena asked as she ran to her boyfriend and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Before Damon could answer her Caroline yelled out Stefan's name as she ran towards him and gave him a hug.

"Oh my god, Stefan I'm so happy to see that you're ok!" Caroline cried out as tears fell down her face just as she planted a kiss on his cheek making him blush slightly.

"It's good to see that you guys made it, but did you really have to take that long before coming back to this side?" Alaric asked.

"Yeah I was starting to wonder if something happened over there, Damon." Enzo said looking at him.

Damon rolled his eyes.

"Hey at least we made it through alright?" Damon said before turning to look at Elena, "Listen, Elena I kinda need to talk to my brother alone so could you guys give us some space?"

Elena nodded as she got up and moved to check up on Bonnie with Caroline reluctantly following right behind her. Damon got up and motioned to Stefan for him to follow him. Once they were a good enough distance away from the others Damon turned around to look at his brother with a very serious look on his face.

"If you ever do that again I will kill you." Damon told him making Stefan roll his eyes.

"Damon, you already have Elena and I thought for sure that she would be enough for you so why…?"

Damon stepped closer to Stefan and looked him directly in the eyes.

"Because you're my brother and contrary to what you believe I still need you in my life." Damon replied as he wrapped his arms around his brother.

Stefan stiffened as this was the first time in along time that his brother actually hugged him like this. After a few seconds he slowly returned the hug.

"I'm really sorry, Stefan. I promise I'll be a better brother from now on." Damon told him as he held on to him tighter.

Stefan looked at him completely surprised to hear that Damon sounded guilty. He started wondering if his death had really affected his brother in a way that made him want to bring him back. Judging by the way Damon reacted when Stefan told him he wasn't coming back it sounded as if he really didn't want Stefan to stay dead.

"You know Elena would have killed you if you ended up being stuck with me on the other side." Stefan told him as he pulled away from him.

"Yeah well there was absolutely no way that I was going to just let you stay there and besides I'm sure she would've understood considering she too has a little brother that she has to look out for as well." Damon replied as he looked at him, "Oh and Stefan?"

"Yeah?"

"Don't you dare die on me again."

Author's Note: For those of you who have read this I'm really sorry if it came out bad because this is my first VD fic that I have written. In case anyone is wondering no I haven't seen the finale of season 5 of VD I've only seen clips. I'm currently on season 5 episode 21 so I have yet to actually see the episode. I'm still hoping that this turned out ok as I was really itching to write something for the VD because lets face it I love the relationship between the brothers but we don't get enough of that so I needed to write down something that would make me feel better. It's amazing how mad I get when it's not Stefan's brother whose helping him with whatever he's going through. Anyway I wanted to say thanks at least for reading this and I'm hoping that you guys liked it and if not sorry I'll probably do better next time.-esmtz


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